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Heir to the Brunei ThroneBRUNEI TOWN, August 19, 1961 - Installed as Crown Prince this week, the Sultan's eldest son said that with the will of Allah, he would do the duties demanded of him to be the best of his ability.

The ceremonial rituals at Istana Darul-Hana were traditional and colourful.

The solemnity of the occasion was tempered by the bright splash of court colours and the rich gowns worn by officials and onlookers alike.

The prince wore a headdress of beaded jewels during the ceremony earlier this week.

After the proclamation had been read out by Dato Setia Marsal, the Deputy Menteri Besar, the Pengiran Bendahara presented the 15-year-old prince with the Royal Kris.

A special feature of the guard of honour was the inclusion of school children.

Wearing floral crowns, girls in neat white and green baju kurongs, walked beside the stately palace guards and spear bearers who were garbed in either total red or total black.

Brunei's first recruits for new army get big welcomeKUALA LUMPUR, June 10, 1961 - The 60 Brunei Malay recruits
who form the nucleus of the proposed Brunei Regiment arrived here last week for
training in Port Dickson.

The recruits are mostly students who had just left school.

The recruits told the Bulletin they considered themselves fortunate and
honoured because they would be the first soldiers of Brunei's own army.

The 60 men were chosen out of the 102 who applied to join the Brunei
Regiment.

A Malayan team led by Major Mohamed Shariff bin Ahmad, recruiting officer of
the Federation of Malaya Regiment, had gone to Brunei to pick the men.

Major (Dr) G A Lopez, who examined the recruits in Brunei, told the Bulletin:
"They are all physically fit. They are the best of those who applied."

The recruits will be trained in Port Dickson for six months after which they
will be attached to various Malayan units for some time.

BRUNEI TOWN (December 31, 1960) - The United Kingdom High
Commissioner in Brunei, Mr D C White, declared open the Kwong Chek Choon Ong
Temple, in the presence of a large gathering earlier this week.

In his opening speech, Mr White, speaking in Malay, said that the temple was
one of the finest in the Borneo territories.

Mr White said that the temple would help to lend lustre to the name of
Brunei.

Earlier, the chairman of the temple committee, the Kapitan Cina said that he
would like to thank on behalf of the Chinese committee, the Sultan, Sir Omar Ali
Saifuddien, the Brunei Government and others who had contributed towards the
building of the temple.

The Kapitan Cina said that the government had not only given the land for the
temple but had also contributed very liberally towards its building.

Seria, 15th December 2012 - THE country's first water amusement park made a splashing opening as gates opened for the first time to visitors across the nation flocking for the chilled, crystal clear waters, and water play areas.

The park, which took four years in the making, was thought of for quite some time, according to the park's General Manager Nisa Halim.

Despite the opening, thoughts of expansion are set in motion: "We're also looking at more facilities to expand the water park, the area has been cleared, so hopefully we can conjure up a few ideas, such as wakeboarding, and so forth," said Nisa.

"This is great," said a mother of three, from Lumut.

She added, "Since they closed the previous pool four years ago, my kids have been excited and were anticipating for the opening and now we're happy to be here,"

The family who lives in Lumut expects frequent visits to the area, while commenting that the park can be further improved by add…

This is a transcript of a radio interview conducted and broadcasted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio Australia and was published on ABC Radio Australia in December 2012. You can link here to the website and listen to the podcast yourself or you can read the transcript below:
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Brunei - 50 years under emergency rule
Updated 13 December 2012, 15:52 AEST
This December marks 50 years of emergency rule in Brunei, the small wealthy sultanate on the North Coast of Borneo.
In 1962, Brunei was still a British protectorate and it held elections that were won by a left wing party.
This was at a time when fear about the spread of communism was palpable, prompting the Sultan to annul the election results and declare emergency rule.

But that was half a century ago, so why does the state of emergency still exist today?Presenter: Liam CochraneSpeaker: Geoffrey Gunn, Professor of International Relations, Nagasaki University in Japan

Bandar Seri Begawan, 12th December 2012 - FIFTY youth proclaimed "We are strong, we are unbreakable, we are invincible" as the 11th Life Skills Training (LESTARI) organised by the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (BDAC) came to a rousing close yesterday at the Female Residential College Hall, UBD.

Overcome with emotion, participants shed many a tear after opening their blindfolds to see their parents welcoming them after undergoing the four-day training programme.

This year's group of 50 youths, named themselves the 'Titanium 50' to represent the dense and hard metal. Utilising a combination of local and foreign practical training methods, the LESTARI programme used music, storytelling, audio and visual, games and interaction to teach life skills to participants and raise awareness of AIDS in Brunei.

[This is an updated entry of an earlier entry I made in 2009 and 2011. I have added a couple of extra books at the end. The entry was as relevant then as it is now.]

Exactly 49 years ago today, some people thought they heard fireworks. They were wondering why fireworks? They did not know that it was not fireworks that they heard. It was the sound of small arms fire. A group of people decided that they needed to take matters into their own hands.

Ask many people who had gone through those era and you will get many tales which you don't or even expect to hear today. I was not born yet. I was a two month old fetus in those days. My father was an Administrative Officer Cadet at the Belait District Office. My mother told me that she and my father had to sleep on the floor in case any stray bullet went through their wooden government quarters in Kuala Belait.

One uncle told me that he was almost shot at by another uncle when he as members of the armed guards of BSP went to the Panaga P…